S. 1067 — Concrete and Asphalt Innovation Act of 2025

This section establishes definitions for terms used in the Act, including "alternative fuels" (i.e., materials used to replace or supplement fuels for producing low-emissions cement, concrete, asphalt binder, or asphalt mixture); "baseline embodied greenhouse gas emissions" (i.e., reported industry averages determined by the Secretary); "commercially available"; "eligible entity" (i.e., federal entities, states, municipalities, Indian tribes, state energy offices, institutions of higher education, nonprofits, private entities, or partnerships thereof); "embodied greenhouse gas emissions"; "engineering performance standard"; "environmental product declaration" (i.e., ISO 14025-conforming type III declarations assessing emissions); and "low-emissions cement, concrete, asphalt binder, or asphalt mixture" (i.e., products with substantially lower embodied greenhouse gas and copollutant emissions than baselines, achieved through low-carbon feedstocks, energy efficiency, fuel substitution, clinker reduction, carbon capture, or other methods). The section also defines "Department" (i.e., Department of Energy), "National Laboratory" (as in 42 U.S.C. 15801), "Portland cement," and "relevant centers" (i.e., Turner-Fairbank Highway Research Center, William J. Hughes Technical Center, and U.S. Army Engineer Research and Development Center).

This section establishes a program of research, development, demonstration, and commercial application, to be carried out by the Department of Energy (DOE) Secretary not later than 180 days after enactment, to develop technologies for low-emissions cement, concrete, asphalt binder, and asphalt mixture production and use. The program requires coordination with specified DOE offices, the Departments of Transportation and Defense, the General Services Administration, and relevant statutory authorities (e.g., Energy Independence and Security Act of 2007 §§454-456); prioritizes technologies to increase domestic production, use, and related employment; and focuses on (1) carbon capture and utilization, (2) alternative low-emission materials and processes, (3) advanced heat-generation technologies, (4) energy and resource efficiency measures, (5) copollutant reductions, (6) high-performance computing for materials design, and (7) retrofit technologies for common facilities. Not later than 180 days after enactment, the Secretary must submit to the Senate Committee on Energy and Natural Resources and the House Committee on Science, Space, and Technology a 5-year strategic plan for the program.

This section authorizes the Secretary of Commerce, acting through the Director of the National Institute of Standards and Technology and in consultation with the Secretaries of Energy, Transportation, and Defense and the Administrator of the General Services Administration, to establish or award financial assistance under 15 U.S.C. 278s(e)(1)—using funds otherwise available—to support two Manufacturing USA institutes (i.e., public-private partnerships under the Manufacturing USA Program that advance manufacturing competitiveness, innovation, technology transition, workforce development, and regional initiatives), one focused on low-emissions cement and concrete and one on low-emissions asphalt binder and mixtures. The institutes must (1) establish testing capabilities and centralized public data on material properties, (2) develop workforce education, training, and recruitment programs, (3) quantify embodied greenhouse gas emissions, and (4) provide information to the Task Force; coordinate with the research program under section 3(b); and, upon state request, offer testing support, guidance, or grants (with grant data required to be public). In selecting materials for testing, institutes must prioritize regional and technological diversity, non-Federal matching funds, and lifecycle emissions reductions. The Secretary may instead leverage or integrate into existing Manufacturing USA institutes or relevant agency resources (e.g., Department of Energy Cement and Concrete Center of Excellence).

This section establishes a program under which the Federal Highway Administration (FHWA) Administrator provides states with (1) reimbursements equal to the incremental cost of low-emissions cement, concrete, asphalt binder, and asphalt mixtures (relative to traditional materials) used in state highway projects; (2) incentives equal to 2% of such costs; and (3) technical assistance to develop performance-based specifications and benchmark embodied greenhouse gas emissions. To be eligible, states must adopt special provisions, performance standards, or greenhouse gas reporting tools (e.g., environmental product declarations); the program authorizes $15 million for FY2025 through FY2027 and requires coordination with the Department of Transportation's Every Day Counts initiative to promote commercialization of these materials (i.e., those with reduced emissions from production). This section further directs FHWA to establish and maintain a public directory of state-submitted low-emissions materials eligible for the program, with a submission procedure due within 180 days of enactment and approval or denial decisions within 180 days of application receipt. (Thus, approved materials may be used in any federal-aid highway project.)

This section expands eligible projects under the Surface Transportation Block Grant program to include (1) projects using innovative, domestically produced cement, concrete, asphalt mixtures, or asphalt binders manufactured through processes that yield superior durability, compressive or tensile strength, workability, environmental performance, or energy efficiency (new subsection (l)(1)); and (2) projects carried out through advance multiyear contracts for specified quantities and prices of such materials, subject to requirements prohibiting advance payments, cancellation charges for unfunded units, and price adjustments for lack of follow-on contracts, among other safeguards (new subsection (b)(25)-(26) and (l)(2)). (The Surface Transportation Block Grant program provides flexible funding to states for a broad range of surface transportation infrastructure, including highways, bridges, transit, and safety improvements.) It further authorizes states to use funds set aside under subsection (h)(6) for such advance multiyear contracts, provided payments occur only after material delivery.

This section establishes an Interagency Task Force for Concrete and Asphalt Innovation, led by the Secretary of Energy in coordination with the Secretaries of Transportation and Defense, the Administrator of General Services, and the Director of the National Institute of Standards and Technology. The task force, composed of two members each from those five agencies, must develop strategies to improve the durability and performance of low-emissions cement, concrete, asphalt binder, and asphalt mixtures; reduce their costs; support innovation and emissions reductions in production; increase related domestic employment; and ensure a trained workforce. It must consult with diverse stakeholders, including industry producers and distributors, federal and private contractors, environmental experts, and others. The task force must (1) recommend to the Secretary engineering performance standards, testing guidelines, improvements to environmental product declarations, and incentives for low-emissions materials; (2) coordinate meetings such as roundtables and workshops; and (3) brief the Senate Committee on Energy and Natural Resources and the House Committee on Science, Space, and Technology. Every two years, the Secretary must report to Congress on the task force's recommendations and agency responses, related determinations, facilitated changes to state and local codes, and stakeholder meetings. The Secretary may terminate the task force upon determining that sufficient low-emissions materials are commercially available domestically at prices comparable to traditional products.